Palestinians condemn plan modelled by US firm to forcibly displace Gazans

Palestinian authorities on Sunday denounced a US consulting firm and an Israel-backed aid group for plotting to forcibly displace Palestinians from the blockaded Gaza Strip under the guise of humanitarian aid.

According to the Financial Times, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) developed a financial model for a covert project named “Aurora,” aiming to displace more than half a million Palestinians from Gaza by offering “displacement packages” funded by foreign entities.

The British daily identified the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), created with US-Israeli support, as the executive front of the project.

Despite claims of humanitarian work, GHF's activities have resulted in the deaths of 751 Palestinian civilians, injuries to 4,931 others, and 39 missing persons since May 27.

More than 130 international humanitarian organizations have refused to cooperate with GHF, accusing it of masking Israeli military objectives.

The British newspaper revealed secret funding and support from private US security firms to BCG.

It said BCG was originally engaged by Orbis, a Washington-area security contractor, to help with a feasibility study for a new aid operation.

Orbis was preparing the study on behalf of the Tachlith Institute, an Israeli think-tank.

“We condemn in the strongest terms these dangerous plans to liquidate the Palestinian cause,” Gaza's government media office said in a statement.

“Despite all the war crimes, starvation, genocide, and displacement, our great people remain rooted in their land and will not relinquish their inalienable rights until the Israeli occupation of all Palestinian land is ended.”

Despite international calls for a ceasefire, Israel has pursued a genocidal war on Gaza, killing more than 57,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children, since October 2023.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.